Rivals!
by UltrraShaddow
Summary: My name is Rouge the Bat. I'm a head of a huge prosperous clothingline, I think I'm pretty smart, cute to boot,and Shadow the Hedgehog hates me. He's cruel, arrogant...and so damn hot... - II Part Fic-


**_UlTrRa_****_ SiK pRoDuCtIoNs pReSeNtZ: _**

**RiVaLs!! **By: UlTrAa ShAdDow

Part I: Shadow **_VS_** Rouge

**XxRivalsxX**

**XxEnter RougexX**

Ah, the SEGA Wear, one of the hippest, most notorious fashion and clothing companies out there. It is one of the top leading clothing brands that could be found in any notable clothing stores, any fashion magazine and on any runaway.

SEGA Wear has a wide selection of clothing offered to both young and old alike. Nearly anyone of any age could find themselves wearing the stylish brand. SEGA Wear's clothes vary from sizzling swimsuits to dazzling evening wear, and if one was feeling casual, SEGA Wear covered that too.

So now we'll meet the people responsible for this super popular apparel line. Somewhere in the heart of Station Square, resides the infamous SEGA Wear building itself; a sleek, metallic-silver fifty footer that's sure to pull a few tourists' interests.

Here at the SEGA Wear Emporium, there are thousands of things going on all at once. Enter the lobby for example and on the first floor alone you've got tours going on, coworkers meeting with other business associates, workers getting to their jobs, and even custodians at work. Yep, here at SEGA Wear Emporium, we've got a whole universe happening within the walls of our building.

What? Are you asking about me? The voice that's guiding you each step of the way? The narrator so far? What's so important about me, huh? Funny you should ask. I'm one of the big cheeses around here. Here at the SEGA Wear Emporium, I'm at the top of the food chain. One of the big fish in the pond.

Oh, you've got another question for me you say? Who am I you ask? Well…

Enter me, Rouge the Bat. Age: 23 years, four months and fifteen days. Favorite hobbies: Shopping, kick boxing, talking on the cell phone and watching sappy love movies. Now would it be vain to say that I'm a powerful, prominent figure in one of Station Square's top corporations? No, I don't think so.

You see once upon a time I had worked my way up from being one of the grunts and now here I am, up there as one of the big dogs. In our company's most executive meetings, not only am I the only female, but I'm also the only member under forty, besides Tails.

Well, I think you've heard enough about me, from me. Haha, so why doncha join me in a day of my life? Here at the SEGA Wear Emporium!

**XxEnter ShadowxX**

"Do you think he's gonna be ontime today?" Tails asked his friend.

As the only two youngsters in the mob of elderly advisors, Rouge found a friend in Tails. When she spoke about her favorite songs and hobbies, he actually had an idea of what she was talking about. The white bat arched an eyebrow at the vulpine, "You talkin' about our boss? I don't think so."

"He's never on time," Tails sighed, "And he's willing to fire us if we're late!"

Rouge frowned, "That's true! He's such a freakin', low-down, fu--"

The revolving glass doors opened as a blue hedgehog stopped forward. "Yo! Welcome, welcome my great committee!"

The entire committee rose to their feet as their boss entered,( they'd probably get fired if theydidn't), "Good morning, Sonic."

Yes that's right; the spoiled heir to the company was a boy Rouge's age named Sonic. He sat in on a couple of meetings, probably only because his father or mother forced him to. Rouge glared at the lazy heir, where she had slaved away to the bone to collect money for her car, Sonic drove his scorching red Ferrari around barley working a day in his life.

"Guys," Sonic began as he paced around the marble table his team was stationed at, "I know we're in the middle of the new project for the 2008 clotheslines. But I just want to put that on a halt for a sec."

"But Sonic," Tails piped up, "Why would you want to halt the project? Our deadline is a month from now."

"I know, I know. But I just wanted to…introduce you to somebody," Sonic said with a secretive smile.

Once he was sure he had the floor, the cerulean hedgehog beamed larger as he began again, "Today we're going to have a new member joining us. This new member has great ideas. I think he'll be good for our company. Lady and gentlemen, I introduce to you Shadow the Hedgehog."

The congress of old men, Tails, and Rouge rose to their feet and clapped as the door spun open. A smirking black, red-streaked hedgehog entered. He was fitted in black slacks and a black dress shirt that he wore with the first two buttons undone.

The new hedgehog strode beside Sonic as the blue guy placed an amiable hand on his shoulder, "Gentlemen, I hope you will make Shadow feel welcome here at his new home. Today he's just going to sit in on our first meeting. You know, he has to see how we function as a machine here."

One by one, the members went to shake hands and well wish the newcomer. Rouge smiled slightly, from just watching him interact with the others, he seemed nice enough. After Tails' encounter with Shadow, the room was emptying out and Shadow turned to have a side conversation with Sonic.

Being cordial, Rouge decided to approach him, "Excuse me, Shadow was it? Hi I'm—"

She blinked when she saw the guy turn his back on her. Rouge glanced around the room before settling her aqua eyes upon him; hello! Did he not see her? Or hear her speak to him? Rouge cleared her throat before she tried again, "Excuse me? Mister? Hey? New guy?"

But the black hedgehog seemed too embedded in his conversation with Sonic to realize she was there. Rouge blinked before she felt her temper boil over. This jerk! How could he not know she was right there!? Deciding to forgo her manners, Rouge stomped over to Shadow and tapped him twice on his back.

The black and red hedgehog spun around smoothly to face her. The white bat froze for a second; she didn't know that he was tall and towered over her by several inches. He looked shorter when he first walked in. The white bat didn't want to admit it, but this guy was pretty cute.

This Shadow guy managed to look both intense and perfectly relaxed at the same time. So previously she thought this guy was cute? Scratch that, he was gorgeous. Sexilicious even. And if someone wanted to know the meaning of the word, they only need to see a picture of Shadow.

Rouge swore she saw the black hedgehog give her a once over before he met her eyes again and smirked, "Yes?"

"I-I…" Rouge stuttered so out of character.

'Okay calm down girl, we weren't expecting to see such a smexy face. But now that we have, we're over it, let's congratulate this new cutie!'

Clearing her throat, Rouge smiled amiably at him, "Hello. I'd just like to congratulate you on being able to make it here. Welcome to SEGA Wear, Shadow was it? Oh how rude of me, my name is Rouge the Bat."

She smiled larger and held her hand out for him to shake it. The black hedgehog glanced at Sonic then turned back to smile at Rouge, "Hn. Rouge did you say it was? You know Sonic, you always give have good taste in employees."

Rouge beamed as Shadow continued, "It'll be nice to have a cute secretary to see day in and day out."

_Secretary?_ The white bat frowned slightly; she wasn't a secretary, she was one of the top bosses in this establishment, she was a big cheese! A big, freakin' cheese! "I'm not a secretary. I'm the manager in the financial department. I keep records of all the financial comings and goings of this organization."

The black and claret hedgehog arched an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"Yes really," Rouge started to glare at him, "Is there something funny about that!?"

"Are you sure this is the place for you, Miss Rouge?" Shadow asked, "Perhaps you should be something else less stressful like a teacher. Or a nurse."

The white bat felt herself glow with indignation; why the nerve of this guy! He didn't give any of her other peers this treatment. But, then none of her other peers were female. Rouge glared before she snarled, "How dare you! I can do this job just as good as anyone here!"

Shadow smirked at her as his eyes narrowed challengingly, "Hn."

"Well," Sonic appeared and wrapped his arms around both Shadow and Rouge as he smiled at them, "It seems like you two are hitting it off really well! Maybe you should show him around the place a bit, eh Rougey?"

The pallid bat glared at her boss as if he had slapped her. Just what kind of illegal substances was he on!? Did Sonic really think they were 'hitting it off'? The only thing Rouge could see herself hitting off was that smug smirk on Shadow's face.

"Sonic," Rouge said slowly, as if she was afraid that if she spoke fast, she'd breathe fire, "I politely refuse to show him around this place."

"Oh? And why is that?" Sonic asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Because I don't associate with jerks that have twelve-foot poles stuck up you-know-where," Rouge smirked as Shadow glared at her.

"Well, I 'politely refuse' to allow you to refuse to show him around," Sonic smirked at the dark expression that marred Rouge's fair face, "Take him on a tour Rougey, and don't let me catch wind that you were nowhere near pleasant."

Sonic patted both of their backs before he turned to leave. Rouge blinked, wait! Sonic was going to leave her alone with that jerk!? The creamy-hued bat reached out at her boss desperately, "W-wait!"

The blue hedgehog spun to face her as he arched an eyebrow, "Why don't you…er…help me show Shadow around?"

"I would, but I've got executive stuff to take care of. I'll see you two around," After flashing one last smile, Sonic left.

Rouge watched her boss's fading figure. It seemed that with each step he took, the farther her hope left. For a split second Rouge forgot that Shadow was next to her, staring at her smugly. But rest assure that Shadow reminded her of his presence.

The crimson-streaked hedgehog chuckled as his attention slid from his blue boss and onto her. He thought he saw her shiver at the sound of his laughter, "Well, well, well. You try to avoid the devil only to find that you must break bread with him."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Rouge glared at him, "Well, I don't know about all of that, but I do agree that you are quite evil."

"Oh, you don't _even_ know the half," Shadow smiled as if he breathed fire. Rouge shivered at the sight of his insidious smile. She glared back at him bravely as he continued, "You know, I have a proposition for you. How about we call a truce?"

The beauteous maiden blinked as surprise dawned upon her face. Shadow was offering a truce to her? Heck, she would be willing to call a truce with this guy, and maybe their work relationship would be better than it was now.

Shadow smirked, "I'd be willing to call a truce on…one term."

The white bat suddenly stiffened as she felt Shadow's hand reach out and gently trace her face. Rouge gasped as she felt his fingers circle the shape of her plump, pink lips. He managed not to smear her fuchsia lip-gloss. ( _A/N:_ _Must have had a lot of practice with the ladies, eh Shaddy boy?)_ The hedgehog smirked, misreading her surprise as delight.

"I'd be willing to call a truce…after this…" leaving the sentence to hang in the air, Shadow smirked as he leaned toward her, closing their distance slowly.

Just as their lips were about to meet, Rouge seemed to come to her senses and she slammed those sharp, pearly-white canines of hers onto Shadow. The black and red hedgehog cursed as he stumbled away from Rouge.

The huntress herself spun away from him, standing near the glass door. It's a shame that no one was there to witness that, but Rouge was more that suited to take care of herself. Kick-boxing was a hobby of hers. A collision of colors met as red and blue eyes glared equally fierce at each other.

Holding a hand to his bleeding mouth, Shadow glowered at her as his eyes gleamed insidiously, like the embers of dying fire, "You dirty little…"

"I don't know who the hell you think you're dealing with," Rouge hissed, her face red from both anger and embarrassment, "But if you ever try anything like that again, I'll--"

"Don't flatter yourself," Shadow hissed as he wiped his mouth, "I'm only interested in attractive women."

Rouge froze. Did he just take it there? Repeat: Did he just take it there!?

He did.

Now it was time for the earrings to come off and for the claws to come out. The white bat removed her red pumps as she glared at Shadow, "Okay that's it! You know what I'm about to do here?"

Pocketing his hands snugly, Shadow smirked suggestively, "Do you really want to know what I think you're about to do?"

Rouge growled like a bloodthirsty panther," I'm about to kick your ass on your first day here!"

Shadow crossed his arms, "…I have no interests in fighting weaklings."

"Weakling?" Rouge laughed, then suddenly she became even angrier, "Oh yeah!? Well you won't be thinking that when I'm beating you up and down these stairs! For your information I do kick-boxing and I'm your equivalent of a black belt."

"So?" Shadow shrugged, unimpressed, "All that makes you is a crazy, violent karate chick."

"It's kick boxing!"

They both glared at each other heatedly. If it was possible, electricity would probably be passing through them now. Rouge suddenly smirked, "You know what, you're not even worth the ass-kicking. Heh, well, I guess from here on out, we're rivals."

Shadow narrowed his eyes and smirked, "Hn. So be it."

And after glaring at each other for a second longer, they both turned and headed their different directions. This day marked the birth of one of the greatest rivalries born in the SEGA Wear.

**XxThe FeudxX**

Originally Rouge thought Shadow disliked her.

Well...

Rouge found out quickly that she had been wrong, Shadow didn't dislike her, he hated her. He hated her the way a junk food eater hated Splenda, the way a shop-alcholic hated bad deals, and the way a repo man hated customers who could pay their bills.

Shadow the Hedgehog was out to make Rouge's life hell. At all of their business meetings, whenever Rouge brought up a point, Shadow would always combat it with a counter argument. Or he would flat out turn down her ideas. And whenever Rouge gave a presentation, it was always Shadow who probed and questioned her the most intensely.

Also, Rouge swore that every time she went to have a cup of coffee, she was sure Shadow was the one who always finished up the pot. And Rouge wasn't clumsy in the least bit, but she also knew that Shadow had to do something with her tripping. After she stumbled, she would always catch Shadow chuckling and moving his foot back to its rightful place.

Then there was the childish hair pulling, the stupid staring contents and the constant skirt tugging. And it seemed like when they were in meetings together, he would unabashedly glare at her front across the table.

This lead Rouge to a big, fat conclusion:

Shadow was a mega jerk.

As of right now, the financial manager was holding a meeting about the SONIC Women's clothing line. Dressed to impressed in a rose dress-suit, Rouge stood before her peers trying to persuade them over with new additions to the women's clothing line. With black spectacles upon her face, Rouge was all business as she pointed and led her presentation with a powerpoint slideshow.

"…So as you can see, I believe we should create a clothesline not just for men, but for women as well. I have several ideas in mind for newer additions to our SONIC for women brand. We could--yes Shadow?"

"While I am for refurbishing the women's clothing line, I have an even better idea," Shadow interjected.

The white bat's left eye barely twitched. She subconsciously clenched the pointer tighter in her hand; he always had something to say! No matter what she said, Shadow would always have a rebuttal for her, _always_. Why did that stupid hedgehog feel that he had to always up her one!? Constantly!!

"Well, why not Shadow, let's hear what you have to say," Sonic piped up, looking slightly less bored than he was a few seconds ago; at first he was checking out Rouge and her uber hotness, but after sitting in a presentation for half an hour, even he got bored with the fine curves and contours of Rouge's figure.

"I've been looking up statistics and polls to make sure my information is completely sound and valid. It seems our largest buying customers are with children ages 6-13 years of age. Popularity is big amongst children that age. Perhaps we should look into creating newer additions into our children and teen SONIC lines before the ladies' apparel. "

"You have statistics you base your claims from?" Tails asked; Rouge smiled slightly; ah, good ole Miles, at least he tried to have her back.

"Yes. I looked into it."

"And I'm gonna look into beating your ass," Rouge murmured under her breath.

"What was that?" Shadow asked, catching just the barest hints of her voice; he didn't hear what she said though.

"I said marvelous work, as always," Rouge grinned, her mouth twisting painfully into a forced smile.

"Thank you for the presentation Rouge, and thank you for your input as well Shadow," Sonic glanced at both noted parties, "I'm very pleased with this information gathering, and I'll share these new found gems with the manufacturers. Everyone you've earned yourselves a quick five minute break, and then I've got…something new to…introduce you to!"

After a warm round of applause for Rouge's presentation, the group of workers rose out of their chairs to socialize with each other. Shadow shot Rouge one last cocky smirk before he went to chat with Sonic. At this moment Rouge was bending her pointer, on the verge of breaking it.

'_If only this pointer was that lousy, stupid, no good hedgehog, I'd bend it and it snap, then I'd stomp on him until he cried out in pain! And then I'd string him up on a pole by his thong!! Eww, that would be just gross if he wore one, but you know what? I wouldn't put it passed him to--'_

"Um Rouge?" Tails asked softly, "Is...is there something going on between you and Shadow? He's been drilling you for these couple of past weeks without mercy!"

"Oh? You just realized what's been going on now!?" Rouge hissed softly, "He's been grillin' me like a steak on a George Foreman grill! All I did was try to be nice to the guy! But nooo! He had to go and get all jerk-a-holic on me!"

"Hmm," Tails scratched his chin, "That's true…"

"You better believe its true!" Rouge moaned.

"I mean, I've noticed that all the female employers are crazy for him," Tails stated.

Rouge growled deep in her throat; it was true. All those floozies--whoops--female employers were on Shadow like white on rice! Rouge, and Tails alike, had seen the way women had drooled when he strolled through the halls. They had even witnessed how a herd of ladies fought each other to offer him cups of coffee every morning when he arrived at work.

Let's not even get started on his personal work locker; one day Rouge saw Shadow open it and a pile of love notes, telephone numbers, and candies fell out. Rouge rolled her eyes as Tails sipped an iced cappuccino, "Yeah, it clearly shows the IQ of those guppies. They chase him around like dogs!"

"Hmm," Tails looked away thoughtfully, "And yet all he pays attention to is heckling you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he's got the--"

Suddenly, Sonic slapped his hand down upon the marble table, "Yo! All right everybody! It's time to get back to business! Come back to your seats 'cause I've got an announcement to make!"

Tails and Rouge exchanged glances before they joined the others and got back into their seats. Rouge happened to glance at Shadow and he made a mocking gesture about her glasses. Rouge blushed and growled before she ripped her glasses off of her face and jammed them into their case; that bastard!

It took all her willpower not to snatch Tails' cappuccino right out of his hands and chuck it all over Shadow. Sonic had prepared a speech about change and was talking about how change would bring their company more profit, money and how it would make them all richer and blah, blah, blah.

The ivory bat rolled her eyes; boy Sonic was sure making a lot of frickin' changes: he was firing and hiring people like crazy and he was investing a lot of time and money on new ideas.

As much as the pallid bat enjoyed a little entrepreneur-ism, sometimes sticking with an old formula that worked was best. Messing with something as successful as their old ideas was like messing with mom's old cookie recipe.

"Board members, I'd like you to meet a new coworker."

Rouge glanced up from her notes, peered down again, then immediately shot up as she really took a better look at the newcomer. Slowly stepping into the board room was a tall echidna. He had fur the color of a setting sun and eyes the color of amethyst jewels.

Long, wild unruly crimson quills pooled down his shoulders and back nicely. The stranger walked beside Sonic with a calm air of confidence. His stride didn't shout 'look at me, I'm the man!' like a certain, taboo black and red hedgehog, but this echidna character still had enough strength to his glide.

Rouge's aquamarine eyes trailed the newcomer's movements intensely as he stopped beside Sonic. The blue manager put an arm around the red echidna's shoulder, "Guys, and Rouge, I'd like you to meet Knuckles."

The pallid bat studied the newcomer with a fond interest. Instead of being tight and serious, this Knuckles guy actually broke a smile. And Rouge would be lying if she said that she didn't like how he looked like when he revealed his pearly whites.

'Knuckles eh? Not too shabby, not too bad on the eyes. Plus five. And he looks good in a suit, plus two…'

"Would you like to say anything about yourself?" Sonic asked, stepping back to give Knuckles the floor.

"Well, as you've heard I'm Knuckles the Echidna," he smiled casually at his audience as he placed his hands comfortably in his pockets.

'Oh, he has a sexy deep voice. Plus eight!'

Oh even better yet, Knuckles was taller than Sonic. By Rouge's standards, Sonic qualified as tall, but this Knuckles guy was even taller than he. And Rouge liked tall men, oh yes she did. Plus five.

"I hail from the Red Mountains City and I studied and graduated from the Master Emerald University. I'm bilingual and have been speaking ancient echidna for six years."

A few 'oohs' and 'ahs' were heard in the crowd as Rouge smiled, 'Ooh, and he's smart! Plus ten!'

Then the echidna smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head, "And I'm a complete sucker for kickboxing and anything homemade."

"Thanks Knux—er, Knuckles. Welcomed aboard, and its good to have you on our team, the good guys!" Sonic held both of his hands in a thumbs-up gesture as the committee nodded their heads and clapped.

Shadow was a little stingy with the applause as he seemed very uninterested in the newcomer. The red echidna smirked one last time before he decided to take a seat. A shadow fell over the white bat and she looked up and…

Her eyes widened as her breath caught in her throat. She was met with the gorgeous, violet eyes of Knuckles the Echidna. Aquiline eyes brightened as her face grew warm; the echidna beamed politely at her, "Don't mind if I sit here, do ya?"

"No, not at all Knuckles," Rouge smiled as she watched the newcomer sit beside her. Out of the corner of her eyes she caught the nearly flawless profile of the red echidna. Okay, he has manners. Plus ten. And he also smells good. Plus ten. And he's not cute at all…he's freakin' fine-ass. Plus two hundred.'

Through out the meeting, Rouge was quite impressed with Knuckles. Most of the time he was taking notes, listening intently to whoever was speaking and inserted whether he agreed or disagreed with their idea politely. Unlike a certain hedgehog who told you right off the bat when he thought your idea was worthless or stupid.

Later on in the week, Rouge had the joy of giving another presentation so here she stood, with her trusty powerpoint in front of her as she worked through the slides. Through her presentation, Tails had smiled at her and mouthed encouraging tidbits like, '_You're killin' 'em_!' or '_You're doing stellar_!'

Sonic would rest his face in his hands as he would continue to stare at Rouge dreamily, like he wished to be somewhere else, and Shadow had his narrow, crimson eyes pinpointed upon her. He analyzed her like a scientist did a specimen under a microscope.

To her delight, the newcomer Knuckles was smiling at her! As he jotted down notes, every now and then he would look up at her smirk, nodding his head with some of the ideas and points she made. With a sigh of relief, Rouge finished her last point about teen fashion and smiled at the nearly stoic sea of faces before her.

She was finally done, all she'd have to do was answer questions, "Now, as you can see, our stock in girl's graphic tees are up and being sold faster than ever! Amy really knows what she's doing when she really designs the clothes. And since girl revenues are up, I believe she should focus this month towards investing there. Any questions?"

"Are you sure?" for a split second Rouge narrowed her eyes; Shadow was going to interject himself again into her presentation and try to find some kind of flaw.

"Sure about what, Shadow?" Rouge's voice was starting to loose its cool, business-like tenor.

"Personally, I think Rouge's idea is fine," Tails piped up from behind his laptop, "For over the past month or so, we've been neglecting the girls' SONIC clothing apparel. If we don't update it soon, we could start loosing customers to our rivaling MARIO clothing line."

As Sonic started muttering unflattery words about the MARIO clothing line, Rouge lowered her head to secretly grin; she loved that little fox! She loved him! Why right now she could kiss him! Take that Shadow! Even he wasn't smart enough to combat the mastermind, Tails!

"I second that motion," Knuckles glanced at Rouge and smiled.

"What do you think about that, Shadow?" Sonic glanced at his friend.

The black hedgehog narrowed his eyes as he conceded, "…Sure."

"Well okay then," Sonic clapped his hands together, "Well, this weekend, I want each of you to come up with a plan for our new Spring girls' clothing line we'll be coming up with: I want ideas for advertisement, potential models, budget costs, the works! By Monday I want a list complied! Pair up and work together: two minds are better than one, right? Okay, so after you find your partner, you guys are done for the day."

As Rouge was jotting down ideas, she noticed a shadow arrive beside her. She glanced up at the newcomer and nearly dropped her fountain pen. The claret echidna smiled lightly at Rouge, "Perhaps we could work on the project together, huh? You seem like you really have your stuff together Ms. Bat."

"Why thank you!" Rouge beamed brightly, "And please call me Rouge! You know, I think I'd like working with you as well!"

Rouge glanced at Tails, he was currently talking to one of the older employees and gave her the go-ahead; usually they worked together on partner projects, "Sure! I'd love to work with you, Knuckles!"

"It's settled then. Here, I'd love to give you the address to my place," Knuckles reached into the pocket of his suit and handed her a torn sheet of paper.

Rouge beamed, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I hope you wouldn't mind coming over at say…oh, maybe eleven-ish?"

"Eleven is fine," Rouge smiled, "That is, if a guy like you isn't too busy to work little ole me into his schedule!"

Knuckles laughed as she giggled. The red echidna smiled back before he nudged her gently, "I don't think I'll ever be too busy for you."

His playful demeanor changed and he appeared a bit nervous, "…Um, afterwards, you wouldn't…mind…going out to dinner would you?"

Rouge felt as if all the Angels of Heaven were singing and bright rays of sunshine were shinning upon her. Did Knuckles ask her out? Or was this going to be one of those stiff, business meeting dinners. Rouge shook her head, ah who was she kidding!? She'd dine with a hottie like Knuckles any day!

"Oh sure! I love to eat…I mean, eat out…Yeah, I'm not a pig…Um…yeah, I like…eating out…"

"Great, so after we work on our project, we'll eat out. I have a nice place in mind. I think you'll like it."

"Oh? Were would you two be going?"

Both Knuckles and Rouges turned to face Shadow. It took everything Rouge had not to leap over the table and beat that arrogant, spiny hedgehog senseless. Why was his snooty nose in their business!? Knuckles blinked before he smiled at Shadow amiably, "Oh, hey there Shadow. I was thinking of taking Rouge to La Casa Roja around seven-sih."

"Hello Knuckles," his voice was awfully nice, this made Rouge suspicious, because there was nothing nice about Shadow! Nothing, "I see you chose Rouge as your partner?"

"Yeah, she really knows her stuff plus she's the financial keeper, so budgeting should be easy with an expert like Rouge."

Shadow nodded his head platonically, "And you've made dinner plans? At the Casa Roja no less. What a nice place it is. Boy, you two are really hitting it off."

The black hedgehog sighed before he smiled kindly at the two of them, "Well I hope you both get much done this weekend, Rouge and…_Knuckles_."

With one last wave, the black and red hedgehog left the office. Knuckles shrugged before he glanced at Rouge, "…Well that was kinda different."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Rouge was still suspicious of Shadow's ulterior motive.

"Wow…He was…really nice…I guess I got him all wrong," Knuckles shrugged, "For some reason…I thought he was a jerk or something."

"Only if you knew," Rouge muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Knuckles asked.

"I said it's because you're new!" Rouge beamed sheepishly.

**XxThe GardenerxX**

Taking the highways and byways in her purple beamer, was Rouge. It was nearly thirty minutes when Rouge found herself slowing down to study the directions. She was a bit surprised to find that not only was Knuckles' handwriting legible, but it was fairly neat too.

Once she checked that she had the right address, Rouge pulled her amethyst ride to a rolling halt. The bat stepped out of the car before really taking in her new environment. A light smile played on her face.

The apartments where Knuckles stayed where beautiful: the blue-green glass were littered with multiple flowerings shrubs, the winding cement paths were brand new and clean, and the buildings themselves were sleek and both dark and glossy as obsidian.

"Man, whoever takes care of this place sure knows what they're doing!" Rouge admired the scenery.

"Thank you," a quiet voice replied.

"Eh?" Rouge turned around slightly to be greeted by the owner of the soft, feathery voice.

Wearing thick gloves, oversized boots, and a sunhat to combat the sun, a beige, creamy-hinted echidna stood. The female echidna was located no less than ten feet from Rouge as she watered the sparkling violets.

And Rouge noticed despite the large, baggy farmer clothes and the floppy sunhat, the echidna girl was actually rather pretty, "Thank you for admiring my work, well, its actually more of a hobby for me."

"Wow," Rouge blinked, "You mean you did all this!? This is wonderful!"

She looked away bashfully as she blushed, "Th-thank you…"

"I'm dead serious, this is--er, pardon my French--but this is some really awesome shit!!" Rouge exclaimed.

The beige echidna hid a giggle into her oversized gardening gloves, "Oh my!"

Rouge smiled at her amiably, "Say… Do you landscape? You know I work for a company and we really have this stupid, desolate patch of land right in front of our building. Perhaps you could take care of it for us? We'd pay really well!"

Blue eyes blinked, "R-really?"

"Yeah, here, in fact I actually happen to have a card. Take it. I'll be sure to give my boss a call and see if its okay to do the job."

The echidna blinked, "You mean it?"

"Yep."

"Thank you so much!" she smiled shyly, "I really appreciate this, Miss. Oh, how rude of me. My name is Tikal Echidna."

"Tikal huh? That's a pretty hot name," the echidna blushed, "I'm Rouge."

The two girls shook hands; Rouge's grip was firm as Tikal's was fairly weak. The echidna smiled as she beamed at Rouge, "So Rouge, w-who did you come to see?"

"Well, I actually came here to meet with an associate of mine. He told me where he lives—let's see now, just where is that paper…"

"Rouge?"

Both girls spun to face the deep voice. Approaching them was the ever confident, yet humble Knuckles Echidna. The bright sunlight seemed to set his already scorching red fur aglow. Rouge smiled pleasantly as Tikal seemed to blanch and she squeaked. The echidna girl glanced at her soiled, old clothes and tried to cover herself.

"Knuckles!" Both Rouge and Tikal cried at the same time; only Rouge's reaction was delighted as Tikal seemed horrified.

Tikal's eyes grew round and puppyish as she stared at Knuckles. The red echidna beamed pleasantly at Rouge as he stopped right before her. Knuckles blinked, sensing that someone else was near him and he spun around to face Tikal.

"Whoa, Tikal, I didn't know you were here as well. Hey."

"H-h-h-i-i-I K-k-k-nu-nu-nu-ck-k-kles," Tikal stammered out as her face glowed red.

"Hey," he replied back smoothly, smiling, "Up to your usual gardening, huh?"

"W-e-l-l-l-l-l, y-y-y-ou see," Rouge arched an eyebrow as Tikal's stammering grew worse, "I-I-I w-a-a-a-s…um…y-yeah…"

Knuckles looked a bit confused as Rouge decided to cover for her new friend, "She just told me how she was testing out her new rose seeds."

"Really?" Knuckles smiled at Tikal, "Red roses are my favorite flower, you weren't planting them especially for me, were you?"

With the new attention Tikal was receiving from Knuckles, her face suddenly burned a blazing red. Knuckles' smile disappeared as he suddenly became worried, "Hey, are you okay? You're a flagrant shade of red. I think you should get a new sun hat or something."

"I-I-I-I-I d-d-d-d-d-on't n-need a n-n-n-n-new h-hat," Tikal gulped, "But th-th-thanks f-fuh-for your concern."

Knuckles frowned, "Do you have a fever?"

He reached out his hand and the second he touched her face, Tikal's eyes went wide. Rouge almost wanted to laugh at how red she had become. The white bat smirked as she watched Tikal with a renewed interest, _'Ah, I see what's going on here!!'_

Tikal squealed as she stumbled away from Knuckles; if she was blushing before, now she was glowing, "D-d-d-d-d-d-d-on't w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-orry ab-b-b-bout me! I'm…I'm…I'm.."

While backpedaling, Tikal fell over her feet. She squeaked with embarrassment, tripped again then glanced at Knuckles one last time before she hightailed it out of there. Knuckles scratched his head as Rouge really fought hard against laughing out loud.

"Oh she's sweet a such, innocent girl!" Rouge beamed.

"I wonder what's up with her," Knuckles said to himself.

Rouge glanced at him like he was an idiot,_ 'Men…they're so clueless…'_

**XxThe Dinner and the Red-haired HarlotxX**

Rouge entered her lavished condo and squealed. After the wonderful day with Knuckles, who wouldn't so excited!? He was young, charming, and so damn delicious! The huntress hoped whatever restaurant they went to, they served Knuckles ala mode on their menu.

"Oh Spanky! Mama's back!"

A waddling, small blue chao made his way through the lovely condominium. The chao's antenna transformed from a question mark and into a heart as his big blue eyes lit up at the sight of Rouge, "Mama! Mama!"

"Mama loves you so such! Yes she does!" Rouge picked up her chao and nuzzled him, kissing her giggling pet.

The huntress hugged her little chao before the sight of her best friend greeted her, "Hey Rougey!"

Rouge glanced up and smiled at Amy Rose as the pink hedgehog joined her on the couch, "Hey Amy! How was my little guy? Was Spanky an angel for you?"

"Oh he was perfect. I've already fed the little guy, and he worked through a few of his coloring books. Sonic stopped in to say hey," Amy beamed as she patted Spanky's head.

Amy's expression suddenly went from being blissful to becoming naughty, "Sooo, how did your day with Knuckles go? I heard your scream when you first came in…So...?"

The white bat shrieked girlishly again, and began to dance around the room, pirouetting like a ballerina, "It was awesome! We got so much work done, and we have all these really good ideas! And we were laughing the entire time! It was so much fun…"

Amy crossed her arms as she waited for Rouge to gush. It was nice and all that her and Knuckles had a good day together, but these weren't the juicy details she had been waiting to hear. Rouge saw the bored look on her friend's face and sighed before she caved in, "And he was so damn sexy, and hot."

"Now that's what I want to hear about," Amy grinned devilishly, the mischevious smile curling on her face was something Sonic would pull-off.

The bubble-gum pink hedgehog covered the chao's 'ears' as Spanky's antenna became a question mark. Spanky didn't need to hear these grown-folk details, "So did _anything _happen?"

The mirthful dancing ceased as Rouge plopped onto the couch beside Amy. The huntress sighed as she flicked one of her pillows away dejectedly; was she pouting? Why yes she was, "No, he's too much of a gentleman to take advantage of me."

"Aw damn," Amy looked a bit disappointed, 'W_ell Sonic would have had no problems if she was me. But I guess every man can't be as great as my Sonic-poo…'_

"But," Rouge raised her pointer finger, "Knuckles is going to take me to dinner in a few hours."

"Really!" Amy perked up, "Just where is he going to take you to?"

"La Casa Roja," Rouge smiled as Amy blanched, "…Er, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong!?" Amy screeched, as Rouge jumped from her shrill octane, "Please tell me you did not just say that."

"Uh…I did…"

"Oh no…Oh no…Oh no," Amy breathed as she started to fan herself.

Rouge blinked, "Um…is something wrong?"

Amy put a hand to her chest as she started hyperventilating, "O-Oh nothing's wrong…Why everything's fine…Other than the fact that La Casa Roja is only like…the only five-star restaurant in Station Square!! Where the rich rub elbows! I've even read that a couple of celebrities have dropped by in there! The La Casa Roja is a place where you and I can only dream of being in!! Girl, please tell me you have something freakin' awesome in your closet to wear…"

Rouge opened her mouth, closed in, then sat perfectly still. She had nothing in her closet worthy of such a fine restaurant, and she knew it. Rouge chuckled as Amy watched her with round, curious eyes, "…Er Rouge? Are you okay? How…How long do you have until your dinner date?"

"Only an hour," Rouge beamed too pleasantly.

Amy arched an eyebrow; how was Rouge still calm about this? Any normal girl should be pulling her hair out, "And…you're perfectly okay with that?"

Rouge chuckled, "Here, let this answer you question…"

Calmly, Rouge slowly rose from her seat, glanced at Amy, then at Spanky and she finished the whole ordeal as she threw her head back and released one of the loudest shrieks in her life, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"Rouge please calm down, it's going to be allright—"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"I'll help you! Don't—"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Please calm—"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh no, she's cracked…"

"GWSUPLAPAPA!!"

--

"Sir?" a rather snooty-looking a waiter asked, "How much longer must we wait?"

Knuckles sighed as he tapped his fingers against the porcelain counter. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was half an hour past the time Rouge was supposed to meet him. The guardian frowned as he ran an anxious hand through his quills.

Was Rouge going to stiff him? It would be kinda embarrassing if she did. He had went through all this trouble of making all these preparations, and even making a reservation for this expensive place had been a hassle.

'Crap, I could see it now,' Knuckles thought as his foot tapped against the floor restlessly, 'I can just see the look on Sonic's face if I walk in on Monday and tell him Rouge stiffed me. He'd be laughing his ass off. I'd never live it down…'

Knuckles bowed his head and groaned. Just as he started to fear for the arrival of his date, a figure stepped beside him, "Is something the matter, handsome?"

The red echidna raised his head and caught sight of a smirking bat. Knuckles couldn't help but smile at the sight of his lovely date. There Rouge stood with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

Rouge was dressed in a long fuchsia dress with slightly darker plum stilettos. Her eye shadow was a smoky charcoal that slowly transitioned to white and her lips were a dark cherry; in other words Rouge looked stunning.

"Rouge," Knuckles instantly straightened up, "You look…"

"Gorgeous? Perfect? Marvelous?" Rouge beamed as she struck a pose.

Knuckles could only nod his head wordlessly. He seemed to regain his wit and offered her his arm. Rouge grinned and accepted the offer. Knuckles nodded to Snooty the waiter as they both were led to their seats.

The red echidna beat the waiter and pulled out Rouge's chair. The waiter's upper lip twitched, but he didn't say anything as he handed the two of them their menus. He promised to give them ten minutes before he returned to take their orders. Rouge beamed at Knuckles then glanced at her menu.

'Yum,' Rouge mentally licked her lips, 'The Shrimp Scampi sounds so good! 'Our choice prawns, fresh and sautéed in our finest white wine…Oh yum…And a strawberry daiquiri to wash it down…Mmm.' (Haha, have plans on getting' a little tipsy there, eh Rougey?)

"What shall you be having tonight?" Knuckles asked as he glanced from his menu and at Rouge.

"I'm thinking the Shrimp Scampi sounds good," Rouge beamed, "How about you?"

"The Sirloin steak sounds pretty good," Knuckles smiled, "You know, for a second, I didn't think you were going to join me this evening."

Rouge laughed nervously; if only he knew, "Oh really?"

"Yeah. But here you are," Knuckles smiled gently, "I'm glad you came."

Rouge returned his gentle smile and soon their waiter arrived. He took their orders and left expressly. Rouge sighed contently as she drank in the sophistication of the place, "My, this joint is breath-taking…"

The room was lit with crystal chandeliers, the carpets plush and ruby, and even the customers themselves were works of art. Elegant gentlemen and beauteous ladies entered and handed their coats to the waiters. Rouge sighed; this place just breathed money. Just as she was glancing around, she happened to look behind Knuckles and saw…

Her jaw dropped.

"Please, come right this way sir and madam."

Taking a table behind them was none other than Shadow. For a second Rouge thought about trying to hide behind her menu, but it seemed as if Shadow wasn't aware of her presence. Before he took his own seat, he walked around and pulled out his date's chair. His date was a stunning, busty little chipmunk with waves of crimson silk for hair. She was so chesty that even Rouge was feeling a little envious.

And if Rouge was jealous over a chesty girl, then just how chesty was she!? Rouge secretly scoffed to herself; that chipmunk had to have had surgery or something because there was no way those planets were hers.

Shadow's eye candy was drawing attention to herself with more than just her outrageous apparel. Her sparkling, crimson dress was several inches too short and barely hit her mid-thigh. And if her itty-bitty, glittering dress didn't call attention to the chipmunk, then her melodious laughter did.

The white bat cursed under her breath and ran an agitated hand through her pallid curls, "…Is something the matter?"

"Huh?"

Rouge glanced forward to see that Knuckles was looking at her with a bit of concern on his face. The white bat played it off and smiled charmingly, "Oh no, I was just…er…thinking about how I'd burn all these calories off!"

"You don't need to, you're fine as you are."

The huntress smiled softly at Knuckles' comment and allowed herself to bask in the warmth of his smile…until she had that loud, annoying guffaw. And just where do you think that laughter was coming from? The table behind them. With Miss annoying, jiggly-silicon-swollen-hair-swinging-harlot.

Rouge took the time to glance past Knuckles and glare at the couple behind them. Shadow was smirking devilishly, as that damned chipmunk was giggling. The red-streaked hedgehog bent closer and beckoned Sally Acorn closer with his index finger.

The pretty chipmunk obliged and bent closer, awaiting his words eagerly. Shadow leaned toward her and barley whispered into her ear. Rouge frowned, there was just something sleazy, dirty about the way he performed his seemingly innocent actions.

Before Rouge could meditate further on Shadow, the chipmunk popped up and began her rancorous laughter again. In fact, she was laughing so hard that that chesty torso of hers began to bounce jubilantly.

Rouge almost spit up her drink at that one.

Then Sally ceased her giggling and glanced at Shadow. Her mirth disappeared at the steamy expression upon his face. Shadow seemed to have become serious and, in Rouge's opinion, sensual. The black hedgehog painstakingly leaned in toward the chipmunk. Sally instantly darted forward to meet him completely.

Shadow had went ten percent and Sally had went ninety. Their kiss was slow but smoldering, Rouge felt herself going cherry in the face from the sheer intensity of it. This was such indecent behavior! Here they were in the middle of a five-star restaurant doing…that!

Their kiss seemed unending and it was so out of hand that other customers were beginning to take note of them as well. As Rouge continued to watch them agog, she suddenly froze. The black and red hedgehog slowly opened his dark claret eyes.

His crimson eyes weren't focused on his date, but they had slowly opened and pinpointed upon Rouge. The white bat froze; he was looking right, smack-dab at her. Now Rouge was sure Shadow chose the seat behind them intentionally! And although he was still busy lip-locking with his date, Rouge was able to see that damned arrogant smirk play on his lips.

He was doing this to get back at her somehow. Rouge didn't know whether to leave the restaurant or walk over there and wipe the floor with him. Knuckles had been emerged in one of his stories he had been telling, but he finally noticed where his date was glaring off to.

Knuckles turned, saw the couple, then glanced back at Rouge. He mistook her dark glare for something else, "Yeah, that's really shameful isn't it?"

"Oh it definitely is," she growled.

"He doesn't respect her," the claret echidna said, taking a sip from his wine.

Rouge arched an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Oh yeah. It's really obvious."

"How can you tell?"

"Maybe it's a guy thing. Or maybe it's because he's sloppin' her right in front of everyone. If you have something special, you don't share it with everyone, now do you?"

"Case and point," Rouge smirked.

The echidna suddenly leaned forward and captured Rouge's chin within his finger tips. The bat felt her face flare fuchsia with embarrassment. Heck, forget Shadow's intense gaze, this stare Knuckles was giving her made her fur stand on end.

The white bat gulped; before her was a gentle, yet very strong masculine figure before her. She didn't know what it was about this guy that made her blush; maybe it was his deep violet eyes that were both light and dark at the same time, or maybe it was the confident demeanor he posed, or maybe it was the way his long quills fell around him, both tamed and wild at the same time.

"But do you know what's really special?" Flustered, Rouge gulped again and slowly shook her head. She thought she would faint at the sight of Knuckles' growing smile, "Nuh-no...Wh-what is special?"

A deep murmur reached her sensitive ears, "You are."

Knuckles coaxed Rouge to lean forward by lightly pulling her chin towards himself. The white bat obliged and felt herself redden at the prospect of being kissed by Knuckles. She slowly let her eyes flutter closed as she felt the magnetic-like pull towards Knuckles.

Just as his lips barely brushed hers, a loud, well-timed cackle made them both miss their mark. Rouge ended up slipping and falling on the table as Knuckles kissed thin-air, "PWHAHAHA! Oh Shadow!! You're SO FUNNY!"

This time both Knuckles and Rouge glared at Sally. If there was a day Rouge was going to commit homicide, it would be today; that stupid, giggling chipmunk had ruined a perfectly stellar moment!

She was cracking up over nothing as she downed another liquid layer of wine. The red echidna grumbled under his breath before he looked at Rouge, "…Okay, are those two idiots annoying you as well?"

"Hell yeah!"

"It won't be too bad to cut out earlier, don't you think? It'd be better than sticking around with dumb and dumber back there," Knuckles winked at her.

"Sure."

Knuckles tipped the waiter (Waiter: Wait, you're leaving!? But your food hasn't even come yet!!) before they felt. After waving good bye to the staff, Knuckles wrapped his arm around Rouge and pulled her close.

Blushing, Rouge smiled slightly as she walked out of the restaurant with Knuckles. If she had glanced back, she would have caught the ferocious glare of a certain red-eyed hedgehog. Shadow glared at his glass of wine, '_Might as well...'_

"Oh Shadie-baby?"

Shadow peeled his eyes away from that damn echidna before he glanced at his date wearily, "…What?"

"Lookie what I brought!" With a naughty, red-lipped smirk, Sally brandished a can of whip cream.

She tittered merrily as even Shadow forgot himself for a second and gawked. Still giggling, she shook the can (it took ALL of Shadow's willpower not to look at her chest) and with a bubbly, cute laugh she sprayed the sweet foam down the front of her dress.

Wide-eyed, Shadow didn't even notice when his wineglass slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground.

"Shaaaaadow," she purred, sapphire eyes glinting, "Anybody up for some desert?"

Thos words triggered pure chaos. Simultaneously, many men in the room had horrible nosebleeds as their girlfriends and wives flushed angrily. Some of the ladies even became violent and started beating their boyfriends/husbands. Sally quirked a mischievous eyebrow as Shadow groaned as he hid his face in his palm.

When he came to work the next day, he'd have to tell Sonic his plan had been one utter, huge failure. And that was something he was not looking forward to because he knew Sonic would be laughing his ass off during the entire story.

-**To be continued!**

**Part II Brother VS Brother coming soon:**

_"Leave before I call…" Sonic paused before he suddenly smiled darkly, "Leave now, Maniac."_

_"Now why would I do that?"_

_"One last time, take your green, spiny, uber cellulose-inflated ass outta my room," Sonic crossed his arms and smiled darkly, "Or else."_

_"Are you threatening me, brother?" Maniac whispered with a dangerous smile on his face, one that mirrored Sonic's. _

_The blue hedgehog picked up a phone and began dialing a number as Maniac crossed his arms. Whoever Sonic was calling couldn't do squat to him. He was Maniac the Hedgehog, playboy extraordinaire, the business genius of his family, not to mention he had an IQ of…_

_"HE'S BEING MEAN TO ME!" Sonic wailed, as he raised his voice at least two octaves, "HE's…HE's (Sniff) HE'S PICKING ON ME AGAAAAAAIN!! WAAH!" Suddenly the phone was pushed directly into the jade hedgehog's face. His brother smiled at him venomously, "…Phone's for you."_

_The green hedgehog arched an eyebrow as he accepted the phone, "…Hello?"_

_Maniac's face went from being completely cool, to becoming shocked, "I…I…"_

_Then, something rare happened. The youngest sibling's sky blue eyes faded a couple of shades darker as they narrowed into slits. Sonic had actually managed to piss Maniac off. His dangerous glare cut into his brother's triumphant jeer. _

_"Why…hello…mother," Maniac said through ground teeth as Sonic pointed and laughed._

_"No mother, I'm not--No, I wasn't picking on--yes, of course I love you--please don't do this to me…"_

**_Brotherly love will never be the same..._**


End file.
